Saturday, 13 May 2017

I havn't posted for a little while, don't worry, some more cross stitch designs will be coming soon. I have just been very busy finishing off my cosplay for this years London MCM. With it being only two weeks away I decided to crack on with it and not leave it until the last minute. (like last time) I took a break from sewing to scroll through some cross stitch focused Facebook pages and discovered to my delight that one of my favourite pages, Climbing Goat Designs is launching a new range of cross stitch kits of some of their most popular cross stitch designs.Heres some links to the pages:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClimbingGoatDesigns/Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/goatdesigns/Instagram: @climbinggoatdesigns Etsy: www.climbinggoatdesigns.co.uk

You may have already heard of Climbing Goat Designs from their Etsy page (www.climbinggoatdesigns.co.uk) where you can find a variety of modern, colourful and fun cross stitch designs. There's none of those stuffy designs like I find in my great grandmas stitching books (and cannot bring myself to stitch) but a collection of designs I can't wait to try.

Needless to say I brought one of the brand new kits as soon as possible. Currently they are available by messaging the Climbing Goat Designs Facebook page but will be coming to Etsy soon. There are seven different designs available in kit form currently but I will be going to be taking a look at the rainbow butterfly kit (since I fell in love with it the moment I saw it) Without further ado here's a little sneak peak inside my kit.

First up, my kit came wrapped in this cheerful purple postage bag. As soon as it plopped down on my doormat I knew I was in for a treat. Almost felt like my birthday.

Blurred my address out here, don't want random visitors :p

The kit itself comes in this cute little box with a very clear label. So if you needed to pop the kit in your stash for later it is super easy to find it again. :D Though I won't be keeping this in my stash for very long.

Everything was packed inside nicely.It contained a piece of Aida, DMC threads, a chart, a beginners guide to cross stitching and a needle kept safely on a small piece of felt.

A quick note here. I asked to pay a little extra for a slightly larger piece of fabric because I needed the aida to be a certain size for my particular project. The aida that comes with the kit by default is enough to sew the design with a little extra around the edges for framing or sewing (so no stitching to the edge if you centered the design correctly)

The chart included a bright front page with a beautiful photo of the final stitched piece so you can easily tell how it's going to look when it's all done.

The chart itself is two A4 pages (other designs may have more pages) of black and white symbols. It looks like the symbols were carefully chosen as there were none that looked too similar to each other. I did not need to get out my reading glasses and squint to work out the colours. Also the symbols were not too small and the print out very clear which just helped with overall readability.

Alongside the chart itself is the guide to cross stitching. This is such a thoughtful little extra to include in the kit. I imagine that this will help make these kits a great starting point for beginners. The guide is written in a friendly manner and runs through the basics of starting stitching a chart including how to find the centre of the Aida, the loop start method and going through how to create your first cross stitches. Each set of instructions comes with a clear set of photographs making them easy to follow.

Don't you just love these colours!

The threads provided with the kit are all DMC threads and are all conveniently preorganised and numbered. It looks like there is a generous amount of each colour too but I'll update once I've finished stitching it.

I was pleasantly surprised to see this, the amount of kits I've ordered with scratchy cheap thread all strewn about and tangled in a bag for postage this was a very welcome change.

The colour key in the chart included the DMC numbers for each thread which I always appreciate in kits. Particularly if my nephew gets hold of my threads and decides to make chains out of them.(again) I will at least know what colours to buy if I need to replace any due to such mishaps.

This is how far I need to go to get some uninterrupted stitching time, better pack a kit!

My first thought was that this little box would be perfect for a holiday stitching kit. Since the kit contains everything you need to start stitching. just bring your own hoop or frame as you prefer. I tried out my favourite small hoop (5 inches diameter) and it fit perfectly in the box with all the rest of the items. With this addition I could easily pack this in my summer holiday suitcase for some stitching in the sun!

So to wrap up, I highly recommend these kits, they come in a range of bright and fun designs. The included cross stitch guide makes the kit brilliant for stitchers who are starting out or perhaps someone who needs a little refresher after being away from the craft for a while. The kit contains everything you need to get started and even have a handy box to keep everything safe and sound.

Ordering from the Facebook page was really easy, just a few messages and a PayPal payment later and I was awaiting my new kit. The designer was able to kindly answer questions I had about the kit too. If you'd like the chart only it is available on the Climbing Goat Designs Etsy page for instant PDF download if you'd like to use your own stash for it.

If you would like to see more of climbing goat designs here are some links:

I heartily recommend the Facebook page, it was how I managed to obtain this kit before it was available anywhere else. There's also news, sneak peeks of upcoming designs and some adorable real life goats (some of the climbing variety) which really brightens up my Facebook feed.For a few more product reviews and Artist spotlights here are some links: